Market Beats | Katie Keenan Appointed CEO of Blackstone’s BREIT; Apple’s iPhone17 Hit Stores With Strong Early Demand in Asia; Markets Steady as Wall Street Wraps Up Fed Weekl; Microsoft to Spend $6.2B on AI Computing Power in Norway; Times Square and West Side Casino Plans Rejected by Community Committees; PwC Cuts 1,500 Staff in Middle East After Rift With Saudi Wealth Fund; Porsche Cuts Forecast as EV Launches Delayed

—— Katie Keenan Appointed CEO of Blackstone’s BREIT; Apple’s iPhone17 Hit Stores With Strong Early Demand in Asia; Markets Steady as Wall Street Wraps Up Fed Weekl; Microsoft to Spend $6.2B on AI Computing Power in Norway; Times Square and West Side Casino Plans Rejected by Community Committees; PwC Cuts 1,500 Staff in Middle East After Rift With Saudi Wealth Fund; Porsche Cuts Forecast as EV Launches Delayed

1. Katie Keenan Appointed CEO of Blackstone’s BREIT

Blackstone Inc. has named Katie Keenan as the new chief executive officer of its $53billion Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), a flagship investment vehicle catering to wealthy investors and a key profit driver for the firm.

Keenan, 41, is a 13-year veteran at Blackstone. She previously led Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. and served as co-chief investment officer of the firm’s real estate debt strategies, guiding the business through a period of heightened stress in commercial property markets as interest rates climbed. In her new role, she will also become global head of Blackstone’s Core-Plus Real Estate division, which focuses on long-term holdings of stable, lower-yielding assets.

Her appointment follows the tragic death of former BREIT CEO Wesley LePatner, who was killed on July28 during a mass shooting at Blackstone’s Manhattan headquarters. The incident left four people dead, including LePatner, and shocked both the firm and the city.

“Thanks to the dedication of Wesley and many others, BREIT stands as one of Blackstone’s finest achievements,” Keenan said in the company’s announcement.

In addition, Tim Johnson, head of Blackstone’s real estate debt group, will take over as CEO of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT).

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2. Apple’s iPhone17 Hit Stores With Strong Early Demand in Asia

After years of anticipation, Apple has finally unveiled fresh iPhone designs, launching the iPhone17 Pro, Pro Max, and the brand-new iPhone Air on Friday. This marks the company’s first major redesign since 2020. Alongside the smartphones, Apple also released the Apple Watch SE, Watch Series 11, Watch Ultra 3, and AirPods Pro 3.

Early signs from Asia point to robust demand for the Pro models. In Hong Kong, customers gathered at Apple’s flagship store, though only the iPhone Air was available for walk-in purchases. Shoppers looking for the iPhone17 or Pro versions were directed online, where wait times stretched to around three weeks. Similar delays were seen in Australia, New Zealand, mainland China, and Singapore, with the iPhone17 Pro Max wait extending up to four weeks. Japan was the only major market offering next-day delivery for all new models, while in South Korea the 17 Pro could be secured within a week, but the Pro Max was backordered until late October.

The launch carries significant weight for Apple. Investors on Wall Street are counting on strong holiday-season sales, even as the company navigates global economic headwinds and the possibility of price hikes tied to tariffs. Apple is also seeking to prove its innovative edge after its artificial intelligence efforts failed to impress.

China’s reception will be especially critical. Sales in the region fell 6% in the weeks preceding the new launch, a sharper drop than usual. Once a dominant force in the market, Apple now holds only a 12% share, trailing local rivals including Oppo, Huawei, and Xiaomi.

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3. Markets Steady as Wall Street Wraps Up Fed Week

After a nearly $15trillion rally since the April lows, US equities closed the Federal Reserve–dominated week on a relatively subdued note. Optimism has been fueled by expectations that Fed rate cuts will support corporate earnings, though some analysts have begun calling for a short pause after the strong gains.

Trade issues returned to focus, with China’s President Xi Jinping urging the US to avoid restrictive measures in a call with President Donald Trump, according to Xinhua News Agency. The S&P500 hovered near 6,650, on track for a third consecutive weekly advance. While a $5trillion triple-witching options expiry looms, several strategists noted it may not significantly amplify volatility given the current calm backdrop. “After such a strong recent run, a period of consolidation should not come as a surprise,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi of UBS Global Wealth Management.

Treasuries also consolidated, with yields slightly higher across maturities. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized that future policy decisions will be made “meeting by meeting.” Swaps continue to price in almost two more rate cuts in 2025. Meanwhile, the dollar edged modestly higher.

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4. Microsoft to Spend $6.2B on AI Computing Power in Norway

Microsoft Corp. will spend $6.2billion to rent artificial intelligence computing capacity in Norway, according to a statement Wednesday from Nscale Global Holdings Ltd. and Norwegian investment firm Aker ASA. The project will run on secured grid capacity and fully renewable power.

Aker shares jumped as much as 7.7% in Oslo on Thursday to 769 kroner, the highest level since February 2023. Microsoft shares were little changed in pre-market trading.

The world’s largest software company has increasingly relied on third-party providers such as Coreweave Inc. for cloud resources. Just last week, Microsoft signed a deal worth up to $19.4billion with Nebius Group NV. These so-called neoclouds typically rely on Nvidia Corp.’s advanced chips to power AI services.

Earlier this week, Microsoft also announced another partnership with Nscale to build a data center outside London equipped with more than 23,000 GPUs.

The company said it plans to invest about $15billion in UK cloud infrastructure over the next four years, an announcement that coincided with President Donald Trump’s state visit to the country.

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5. Times Square and West Side Casino Plans Rejected by Community Committees

Tishman Speyer sold the Beverly Hills office building Maple Plaza to Kilroy Realty Corp. for about $205 million, more than double the price it paid for the property two decades ago. The deal values the building at $707 per square foot, a high figure compared with other recent Los Angeles office transactions.

According to CBRE, the largest office deal in western Los Angeles in the second quarter was Barings’ $150 million purchase of a complex in Playa Vista, priced at about $512 per square foot. The vacancy rate in western Los Angeles was 22% in Q2, compared with nearly 33% in the city’s downtown central business district.

Tishman previously sold two other Beverly Hills office properties: nearly $120 million for another Maple Avenue site bought by Fashion Nova last year, and $90 million for a building on Beverly Boulevard in December.

“These transactions have capitalized on the market’s continued appetite for top-quality office environments in premier markets, and we remain committed to the region’s long-term growth,” said Ryan Botjer, Tishman Speyer’s senior managing director.

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6. PwC Cuts 1,500 Staff in Middle East After Rift With Saudi Wealth Fund

PwC has axed about 60 partners and 1,500 employees from its Middle East operations as a dispute with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) sharply slows the firm’s expansion in the region.

The cuts began in February, people familiar with the matter said, when PIF imposed a year-long freeze on awarding new advisory contracts to PwC. The ban deepened a broader decline in consultancy work in Saudi Arabia, where the government has scaled back spending and reallocated priorities after years of heavy investment.

PwC had already been trimming roles and reviewing performance in the region, but the PIF freeze — hitting one of its biggest clients — forced leadership to prepare for significant revenue shortfalls across the current and next fiscal year.

A leadership shake-up is also in motion. Laura Hinton, PwC UK’s managing partner, will assume joint leadership of the Middle East business with senior partner Hani Ashkar starting in October, according to a staff email from PwC UK head Marco Amitrano. Hinton is expected to become sole senior partner after one year, following the departure of two senior executives earlier this year directly linked to the PIF ban.

PwC had been involved in PIF’s high-profile ventures, including Neom, a futuristic $500billion megaproject on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. But tensions reportedly arose when PwC attempted to recruit Neom’s internal audit chief and showed reluctance to take audit work that might conflict with its lucrative consulting contracts — a clash that ultimately led to the freeze.

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7. Porsche Cuts Forecast as EV Launches Delayed

Porsche AG lowered its outlook for the year, warning of a €1.8billion ($2.2billion) hit to operating profit as it postpones new electric vehicle rollouts and opts to continue offering combustion and hybrid drivetrains. The sports-car maker now expects a return on sales of up to 2% for the 2025 financial year, down from its previous range of 5% to 7%. Its American depositary receipts dropped 3.3%.

A new line of SUVs originally planned as fully electric will instead debut with combustion and hybrid options, the company said. The decision underscores mounting pressure on Europe’s auto industry, which faces weakening EV demand despite years of heavy investment in electrification. Porsche is also grappling with headwinds from US tariffs and a slowdown in the Chinese market.

As a result of Porsche’s revised strategy, parent company Volkswagen AG also cut its operating margin forecast for this year to between 2% and 3%, from as high as 5% previously.

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